Blacks: Titusville Needs Districts

TITUSVILLE — Black leaders say a referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot to elect city council members by districts will give them a bigger political voice in a city where blacks always have been defeated.

If approved by voters, the referendum will divide Titusville into four districts with the mayor still being elected at large.

The move, which would take effect with the city's next election in 1987, would concentrate black votes and increase the chances of one being elected, said Bill Gary, president of the North Brevard National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

A second referendum will ask voters to amend the city charter so council terms run four years rather than three and election years coincide with presidential and county elections. City elections now are held in the spring. Under the proposal, the mayor and one council member will change to four- year terms in 1988, with the other three council members going to four-year terms in 1990.

The switch is mainly a time- and money-saving move for the city and the county supervisor of elections office, council member Jim Ball said. ''It's not a controversial issue -- it just makes sense.''

This week, the NAACP and other minority groups will begin campaigning for the district-voting referendum, including running ads in local newspapers, sending out letters and posting signs.

Blacks make up about 11 percent of Titusville's 40,000 residents. The NAACP threatened to sue the city this year to get a court order to change the city charter, which calls for at-large elections. If the referendum fails, the NAACP will have no alternative but to sue, Gary said. Four blacks have lost their bids for a seat in 14 years.

''We're hoping to avoid court actions,'' he said. ''It would cost both us and the city a lot of money. We think the voters are educated enough that they will pass it.''

A black council member could deal more effectively with the problems facing minorities, such as increasing low-income housing and providing more training and job placement programs, said Beecher Whisenant, president of the North Brevard Democratic Women's Club.

''The council has dealt with the problems as best it could,'' she said. ''But they have to rely on our imput -- they don't know what we're feeling.'' Council member Don Simmons said district voting would have its disadvantages by reducing residents' representation on the board. Voters now can aim their pitches at five people, but with districts they would only have one council member and the mayor.

''It has the potential to make the board more political,'' he said. ''Council members now have to be receptive to everyone in Titusville. But if this passes, they will only have to answer to the people in their district.''